Arely Andrade Obituary, Death; – A man and a woman lost their lives in two distinct fires that occurred overnight in Northwest D.C.
News4 interviewed Kimberly Perdomo, who narrowly escaped the inferno and is the daughter of one of the deceased. “What I have gone through is truly traumatizing,” Perdomo stated.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Perdomo awoke to flames engulfing the apartment she shared with her mother on Newton Street NW. “My immediate reaction was to search for her, but I could not locate her,” Perdomo recounted.
Perdomo identified her mother as Arely Andrade and shared a childhood photograph with News4. She suspects the fire originated in the kitchen. While she managed to escape, her mother did not survive. Perdomo noted that her mother had been struggling with health issues.
“My mother was an incredibly hardworking individual who had been battling cancer for an extended period,” Perdomo remarked. Prior to extinguishing the flames on Newton Street NW, firefighters had responded to another fire just hours earlier on 13th Street NW. “The entire block was cordoned off, and we could see everyone evacuating from the building,” said Lily McCann, a nearby resident.
A fire erupted in a second-floor apartment around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, resulting in the death of a man. Footage from a neighbor captured the scene. Firefighters reported that combating the flames was challenging due to significant clutter within the residence. Nevertheless, neighbors felt the response was prompt.
“From our perspective, it appeared to be very swift,” McCann noted. “The firefighters seemed well-prepared to handle the situation.” On Newton Street, crews secured the building with boarding. Firefighters indicated that the damage was so extensive that it rendered the structure uninhabitable, displacing five individuals.
Perdomo expressed her regret over not being able to prevent the fire. “It is profoundly heartbreaking because it was just my mother and me living in that apartment,” Perdomo lamented. “I wish I could have awakened sooner; perhaps I could have saved her.”
